THE COMMON THREAD

On this day in 1814, United States soldiers raised this 30′ x 42′ foot garrison flag over Fort McHenry in Baltimore to celebrate a critical victory over the British during the War of 1812:

Seeing those “broad stripes and bright stars” inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem entitled “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” It soon became the song we know as “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and eventually, Our national anthem.

In turn, that flag, and the following words from the fourth stanza of Key’s poem inspired Our Lost Founding to create this t-shirt design:

“Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”

https://secureservercdn.net/184.168.47.225/ea9.440.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Star-Spangled-Banner-Flag-Smithsonian.jpg?time=1568466064517669Our Lost Foundinghttps://secureservercdn.net/184.168.47.225/ea9.440.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/OurLostFounding-Logo-Preview-1.pngOur Lost Founding2019-09-14 08:00:132019-09-12 12:41:16Defence of Our National Anthem

The defense of Fort McHenry during heavy bombardment by the Royal Navy actually began the following day and inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the poem, aptly titled, “Defence of Fort McHenry.” Of course, the poem became the lyrics for “The Star-Spangled Banner” our national anthem.

Rebuild on a solid foundation

So, today is September 12, or 9/12. As a nation, we’ve reflected on 9/11 for 18 years, and today we are faced with significant, on-going domestic and foreign threats and challenges to our republic.

Here are a few excerpts from Billy Graham’s remarks given at the National Cathedral on September 14, 2001:

[T]oday we come together in this service to confess our need of God. We’ve always needed God from the very beginning of this nation. But today we need Him especially. We’re involved in a new kind of warfare. And we need the help of the Spirit of God.…The lesson of this event is not only about the mystery of iniquity and evil, but, second, it’s a lesson about our need for each other.
…A tragedy like this could have torn our country apart, but instead it has united us.…This week we watched in horror as planes crashed into the steel and glass of the World Trade Center. Those majestic towers, built on solid foundations, were examples of prosperity and creativity. When damaged, those buildings plummeted to the ground, imploding in upon themselves. Yet, underneath the debris, is a foundation that was not destroyed. Therein lies the truth of that hymn, “How Firm a Foundation.”

Yes, our nation has been attacked, buildings destroyed, lives lost. But now we have a choice: whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation; or to choose to become stronger through all of this struggle, to rebuild on a solid foundation.

And I believe that we are starting to rebuild on that foundation. That foundation is our trust in God. And in that faith, we have the strength to endure something as difficult and as horrendous as what we have experienced this week.
…May God bless you all.”

On this day in 1776, this new nation is renamed the “United States” of America, replacing “United Colonies.”

We find the formal declaration in an excerpt from a Continental Congress Journal entry, written by John Adams:

“Monday September 9, 1776. Resolved, that in all Continental Commissions, and other Instruments where heretofore the Words, ‘United Colonies,’ have been used, the Stile be altered for the future to the United States.”

The debate about who exactly coined the name “United States of America” is unsettled. Still, the designation first formally appears twice in the Declaration of Independence. As such, the National Archives credits the name to Thomas Jefferson, the primary draftsman of the document.

Even so, John Adams was one of the five statesmen on that ‘Declaration Comittee,’ pictured below. Benjamin Franklin was also on that outstanding committee.

Regardless, the exact origin of the name is irrelevant in comparison the overall intent of our founders.

Pulling Down Strongholds

The Declaration of Independence states:

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States;”

Less than three months prior, Mr. Adams wrote this as part of letter to his cousin, Zabdiel:

“Statesmen my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand. . . . The only foundation of a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our People, in a greater Measure, than they have it now, They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government, but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty.—They will only exchange Tyrants and Tyrannies.—You cannot therefore be more pleasantly, or usefully employed than in the Way of your Profession, pulling down the Strong Holds of Satan.”